RMC LANDS EL TORO RUNWAY JOB
A Colorado recycling company has been chosen to demolish the runways at the former El Toro Marine base in Irvine, Calif., marking yet another step toward redevelopment of the 3,700-acre facility.
Recycled Materials Co. (RMC), based in Arvada, Colo., will soon begin negotiations with the Orange County Great Park Corp., a non-profit firm overseeing public-use construction at the former Marine base, city officials say. The non-profit group received approval from its board to begin negotiations with the company at a meeting June 23.
The decision by the board to approve negotiations with RMC ends two years of discussion and debate by the group.
The company selected for the project had to provide recycling and had to do so on site.
Glen Worthington, manager of planning and development for the agency, says that it hopes to complete negotiations with the company by the end of this year so RMC can break ground on the demolition work.
RMC will demolish the runways and other structures on the base at no cost to the city of Irvine, selling most of the recycled material for use in the redevelopment project.
One of the keys to Great Parks Corp. choosing RMC, according to Worthington, was the company’s expertise in demolition work on a host of similar projects, including Stapleton Airport in Denver.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Lennar Corp., which bought El Toro from the Navy earlier this year for $649.5 million, will use much of the material for private development projects at the site, including 3,400 homes and 3 million square feet of office and commercial space.
Though the terms of the deal must still be negotiated, including the price of the recycled material and the timeline of the project, Great Park and Irvine officials say they expected the demolition of the runways to begin as early as this fall.
The Great Park Corp. is governed by a board consisting of the five Irvine council members and three appointed directors who unanimously approved Recycled Materials Co.’s demolition bid over one submitted by a local partnership called Vulcan/Ortiz Enterprises Inc.
NATIONAL DEMOLITION ASSOCIATION NAMES SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
The National Demolition Association, Doylestown, Pa., has awarded five college scholarships totaling $20,000 to students who have demonstrated a commitment to serving the community while maintaining a high level of academic achievement.
Vladimir Borun of Skokie, Ill., received the Bill and Wanda Baker Scholarship. He was nominated by Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. of Chicago.
Krystal Burgess of Houston won the Southern California Chapter Scholarship. Cherry Companies, also of Houston, nominated her.
D.H. Griffin Wrecking, Greensboro, N.C., nominated Joshua Griffin of Julian, N.C. Griffin was awarded the Patrick O’Rourke Scholarship.
National Demolition Association scholarships were also awarded to Kelly Robinson, Marlton, N.J., and Aaron Velky of Beltsville, Md. Commercial Demolition Services of Beltsville nominated Velky, and R.E. Pierson Construction of Pilesgrove, N.J., nominated Robinson.
The National Demolition Association scholarships are open to all regular members of the association.
N.Y. TOWN ORDERS TRANSFER STATION SHUT DOWN
Village officials of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., have ordered the Metro Enviro transfer station to stop accepting material on July 23, according to a report in the Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.).
The shutdown order comes less than a week after the Court of Appeals ruled the village is entitled to close the station because of a history of operating violations, according to the report.
Croton’s attorney Michael Gerrand tells the Journal News that the order is "the culmination of two-and-a-half years of litigation." He says the village board voted to close the facility in 2003.
David Steinmetz, Metro Enviro’s attorney, tells the paper that the company is "reviewing all of its potential procedural options" and that it is not clear whether the construction and demolition debris facility would close.
The Journal News reports that the court ruled last week that Metro Enviro had violated its operating permit by accepting more material that permitted and falsifying records.
Steinmetz argues that the facility has fixed problems.
Metro Enviro is owned by Allied Waste Industries, based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
AGC IN PRAISE OF U.S. HOUSE
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the 2006 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.
The House completed all 11 appropriations measures for 2006, which propose to increase overall spending for construction programs by more than 7 percent over 2005 levels.
"The record strength of the construction industry over the past 15 months has had a great impact on our growing U.S. economy, and we must continue to adequately fund construction programs such as infrastructure spending," says Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC CEO. "AGC is pleased that the House recognizes this need to increase construction spending, given the many other budget priorities facing the Congress."
The House passed spending increases on programs including federal highways, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Military Defense construction.
The appropriations approved by the House include $37 billion to Federal Aid Highway programs—a 5.4 percent increase over 2005.
The House also approved $8.5 billion in mass transit grants—a $900 million increase over 2005.
AGC commended House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and the other members of the committee for completing work on the bills before the July 4 congressional recess.
In a press release, AGC says it looks forward to the Senate completing its work on the spending bills and hopes that Congress will finalize the 2006 appropriations process before the Sept. 30, 2005, deadline.
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